Transition
by slitherynz
Summary: A short AU 27th Century timeline, about a somewhat bizzare change in a man's life...


_Disclaimer: As usual the obligatory disclaimer makes it's appearance. Nothing here belongs to me, except for the fictional (obviously) changes I've made to all things canon. The rest belongs to Paramount.  Believe me when I say I'm not getting a cent for this. Hope you enjoy!_

_Emissary Plaza, Hekdhuris Province, Northern Continent, Bajor_

_Stardate 88386.1……_

Unlike the other provinces in the Northern Continent of Bajor, or anywhere else on-planet for that matter, the Hekdhuris Province has two unique distinctions no other province possesses. The first is that Hekdhuris was the first new province to be declared and developed _after_ the Dominion War. The second is that it contains among its citizen complement an unprecedented affair.

This is the story of Robert Eagles. He's seen 35 years of life, and he's of human descent. He's quite the male to see, with wavy brown hair and greyish-blue eyes, and a pretty handsome face. He also has other interesting facets to him that makes him somewhat an enigma.

Robert, or Bobby as he is called, is the first human known to take up the Bajoran faith. At first mention of this, any one from the First Minister on down would tell you that that's not true, and that there could be tens of other humans who've gone religious Bajoran-style.

But the fact is, Bob's the only foreigner so far to officially take the religion as his own, and print it so in his documents. It's there. He's Robert Eagles, human nationality, Bajoran spirituality. The thing never fails to make customs officers do a double take, and some even go so far as to stare at it in shock. Some ask him if he's playing some sort of prank. Once he was even detained for it. But there's no denying the fact that he's been accepted under the Bajoran faith.

He recalls that it took a fair amount of patience and self-conviction to see it through. The Vedeks, the Kai himself, were positively shocked to hear of his request when he first drafted it, nearly a decade ago. When they questioned him as to _why _he'd want to take up a foreign religion in the first place, his immediate answer was, "It's not wrong, is it?"

And the religious people had made placating sounds, assuring him it was quite alright. In fact, it was well within the law. Bajoran law texts do not have anything on the acceptance of alien nationals into their faith. Technically, you could say that if anybody from here to the Delta Quadrant wanted his religion to be Bajoran, he could do it.

But the aspect of it was what had so surprised the Bajoran people. Thus far, no alien in recorded history had entered their faith. It was treated as if it were strictly for their own race. No one made any preaches or sermons or religious inductions about it to anyone non-Bajoran. It wasn't as widespread, or as flexible as other religions, and quite frankly, it was by custom meant for Bajorans only.

But Bob had pointed out that under his Federation citizen's rights charter, he had the freedom to appoint his chosen religion regardless of tradition, custom or inconcrete belief, assuming that the religion he opted for did not have any constraints against him choosing it, by law. The Bajoran religion fit this description.

So they had officially agreed to his request, signed the appropriate documents, and made him a follower of the Bajoran faith. A few months later he applied for Bajoran citizenship. They granted it, no questions asked.

Yet his story is incomplete. Why did he come to Bajor? Why _did _he choose to be a Bajoran spiritually, and later officially? What did he do for a living? What's it all about? Is he really a Bajoran in human disguise?

The answers are actually quite simple, though long-winded at places. His coming, no, _migrating_ to Bajor had to do with a number of factors, foremost of which the fact that he'd resigned from Starfleet. He used to be a Starfleet officer, serving aboard the _Challenger_ as Chief Engineer. He had it all there (mostly), a good job, a good workplace, plenty of good friends, even a significant other. But one thing that he didn't have, starting the day a month before he moved to Bajor, was his family.

At the time of the official start of his Starfleet career, he had his parents, a brother, and a cousin for a family. Everyone else was dead. It had been that way for as long as he could remember. His brother, annoying sometimes and compassionate others; his parents, ever caring and loving and supportive, his cousin, living with her closest relatives since her own parents died. At the time of his official induction into the Bajoran religion, he had already lost his remaining relatives.

It was during a raze of his childhood neighborhood. His family lived there, all under one merry house. Parents unemployed, brother working at a science research centre, cousin a teacher at a local school. It seemed a mild existence. Then the Nullivar stepped into the picture.

The Nullivar is (was) a warrior-oriented race, much like the Klingons. They don't have a near-fanaticism on honour, but they do have a mean conquering streak, and after hearing of the Federation from their territory in the Delta Quadrant, they came charging in with their very destructive weaponry, seeking to conquer the Federation (and maybe the Klingons and Romulans for good measure…just kidding). The Nullivar proved to be effective, and other parts of their personality emerged, including ruthless, calculating, unfeeling, and brutish. Many a newsnet characterised them as monsters and devils. They showed no mercy to anything or anyone.

During what came to be known as the Nullivar War, a Nullivarran warship had bombarded the entire area of Voriign, on Toreynon, which had been a Federation colony and Bob's homeplanet. The raze had been done from orbit, using the devastating weapons the Nullivar were known for. The entire landmass of Voriign was reduced to a state worse than 'mere rubble'. No substantial trace of either artificial structure or organic material was ever found. Three days after that, the colony surrendered to the Nullivar, having lost nearly half it's original population and it's entire defence force in the raze. Starfleet had come too late to prevent the attack, or the surrender.

Losing his family and his home had depressed Bob. Matters were made worse when _Challenger_ engaged a Nullivar dreadnought in orbit around Earth a mere four days later. That battle they had lost; it was only the help of the FSS _de Jure_ that had stopped them from receiving the same fate Voriign had.

During that battle, the death toll on both the _de Jure_ and the _Challenger_ numbered very high. Bob chooses not to remember the exact number; it's painful enough to think that there was one in the first place. Among the deceased was his best friend and ship's engineer James, and the person he loved most, their helm officer T'Lana. Fortunately his captain had survived for Bob to send in his resignation. After both the battle and the demolishment of his home, Bobby felt terribly disillusioned with Starfleet. Without going into details, it is his opinion that hypocrisy was the cause. His captain was in no position to refuse, and a day after that, Bob Eagles packed his bags and returned…to nowhere.

He settled on Earth, for a month or so. He felt very alone, and there was even a vague sense of helplessness and uselessness. He tried barhopping for awhile, but the obvious detrimental effect it had on his health stopped him. For 30 or so days he slept in motels, trying to figure out where to go next. He obviously could not return to Toreynon, and Earth just wasn't the place he wanted to go to. So he took up the nomadic habit of planet-hopping, taking shuttles and transports from one well-known location to another.

For another 30 days he slept in different places across Andor, Vulcan (here he tried not to stay too long), Tellar, Cardassia, and finally Bajor. At first his stop at Bajor was meant to be temporary; he thought he wouldn't like the place, and was only there to hole up while he thought of where else he'd go.

But it turned out to be a lucky decision. Bajor was a clean planet, not as seedy as it might have been during the Cardassian Occupation. The people there smiled everyday, it having been nearly 4 centuries since their oppression. Bajor now was recognized as a distinguished planet in it's own right, not as the child that was bullied by Cardassia. It sounds clichéd, but everyday the sun rose in Bajor, and Bob felt better, felt more at ease and cheerful.

One more night, he'd tell himself, just one more night and then he'd go seriously find a permanent residence somewhere else. But he never left the planet. One day he woke up and read the comnets with purpose, and then went straight to Hekdhuris Province, where he'd heard some new houses were up for sale. It was very sudden, very straightforward and to the point. He just got up, looked for the right place, and moved in without even acknowledging to himself that he was now permanently going to stay on Bajor. 

The piousness of most Bajorans had also struck him during his first few weeks there. The religion, he admitted, seemed to be an appealing one. To sum it up plainly, he liked the way it went. So the next order of business after securing a home and a job (he works as a writer of real read-page-by-page books, something he didn't know he had talent for) was to enter himself into the faith.

Doing so made him feel clean, pure, more optimistic than he had for a long time. He felt like everything was old and familiar to him, like he belonged here, on this planet and in this religion and with these people, under the watchful eye of the Prophets. It was all so comfortable for him, living on a pretty good income and an okay existence. There was no more fighting, no more battles, no more hostile aliens, no more intense galactic intrigue. Not even space exploration. He had settled into the planetside life.

He's quite satisfied. He admits during the first few months after being officially recognized as a Bajoran spiritual (and similarly afterwards, when he was given citizenship), some people sought to give him trouble. His name and face would be plastered in the memory of anyone who bothered to read the newsnets. The media had made a big fuss over his application to be Bajoran. 

Everyone after that knew who he was, and on the streets sometimes he'd get dirty looks and suspicious faces and incredulous stares. But now it's just a fading memory. Bajorans smile at him, wave, afford every cordiality they do to any stranger they pass on the street. He has quite a few friends, males and females (hands off, of course), and his editor likes him a lot. Bob has proven to be a trouble free foreign citizen, or expatriate as some might say, and no one wonders about him anymore.

Starfleet and _Challenger_ are distant memories, ones he doesn't like to dwell on. He doesn't even think of Voriign or Toreynon these days. Bajor's made a niche for itself in his heart, and it seems to be labelled home. Bob likes his home, his job, and especially likes being able to go to services in the evening (somehow, even after 8 years it's still a novelty). He feels like a Bajoran. 

One of these days, he thinks, he's going to go and add ridges on his nose. They do excellent things with these facial surgeries now. He could surgically alter himself to look Bajoran, finally make the final meld with the identity he loves so much, finally shake himself free of the previous one. And the thing is, he's serious. He _is _going to go get ridges surgically plastered to his nose. He wants to forget the painful life he'd led before. Once he does that, he'll feel complete. It's what his heart tells him. He speaks Bajoran, feels Bajoran, thinks Bajoran, looks Bajoran, _is _Bajoran. That is his final goal. To be Bajoran.

_A/N: Well that's the end of it. After quite some time I've decided to take up the literary sword, bearing in mind that as such the sword may be rusty. Hope any of you 'Trekkies' forgive anything that sounds remotely impossible or non-Trek. It's just fiction! :D Any comment a.k.a. feedback is appreciated._


End file.
